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OBIS is a catalog search platform provided by the Oberlin College Libraries; searches in OBIS return results from across the libraries physical and electronic collections, including:

• Books and ebooks
• Videorecordings (Blu-Ray, DVD, VHS, etc., and online streaming video)
• Audiorecordings (CD, phonograph or vinyl record, cassette, etc., and online streaming audio)
• Music scores
• Government documents

For best results in your search, refer to our OBIS Search Tips at the bottom of the Advanced Search page.

Oberlin College Libraries is a member of the OhioLINK and SearchOhio statewide library consortia, and participates in the robust resource sharing programs managed through these organizations. What does this mean for you? This means you can quickly and easily borrow materials from public and academic libraries across the state!

The Ohio Library and Information Network (OhioLINK) is an academic library consortium serving over one hundred libraries statewide; SearchOhio is a consortium of public libraries that partners with OhioLINK to facilitate access to millions of resources for Ohio library users. 

If you can't find what you're looking for in the collections of Oberlin College Libraries, these catalogs are just a click away— and, with dedicated van delivery between member institutions, materials requested through these services are typically available to Oberlin users in a matter of days!

Summon is a cross-platform search tool provided by Oberlin College Libraries; searches in Summon return results from OBIS, but also from ​​​many— but not all— available subject databases.

Because Summon searches across so many platforms, it is not always the best way to discover books and ebooks; the results can quickly become cluttered up with journal, magazine, and newspaper articles.

However, there is one feature that may recommend Summon for these purposes. A search in OBIS will only return results when the search term(s) match terms in the catalog record. A search in Summon can return results when the search term(s) match terms in the full text of a resource— provided that Summon has access to the full-text of the resource— even if those terms don't appear in the catalog record or abstract! 

Put simply, if the term oubliette occurs in the full-text of a book, but does not appear anywhere in the catalog record in OBIS...

A keyword (All Fields) search in Summon for oubliette might return the resource as a valid result; but
A keyword search in OBIS for oubliette will not return the resource as a valid result.

For best results in your search, refer to Summon's Search Help pop-out, which can be accessed from a link in the top right corner of the main search page.